Preliminary Gross Domestic Product figures confirm contractors worst fears that the industry has fallen into a double-dip recession as private work struggles to fill the void of a slowdown in public-funded schemes.

The stats show that construction output fell 0.7% during the first quarter of this year following a 0.9% fall during the last quarter of 2009.

The technical definition of a recession is two consecutive quarters of negative growth.

Construction’s performance was in contrast to the economy as a whole which showed slight growth of 0.2% during the first quarter of the year.

One contractor said: “It’s a worry but not a real surprise. Public sector work is slowing and while some areas of the private market are picking-up, it’s not enough to offset that fall.

“Our main hope is that the recovery in private work accelerates because spending in the public sector is only going one way.”